FOI 24-533 Technician Rapid Unit Test of Change

Freedom of Information Request

Reference
FOI 24-533 Technician Rapid Unit Test of Change
Request Date
20 Dec 2024
Response Date
20 Jan 2025
Information Requested

Please supply details of the trials that have been conducted whereby rapid response vehicles have been
solo staffed by technician grade clinical staff.
Please include documentation relating to the background and rationale of the trials as well as providing the
evaluation of the trials undertaken

Response

The Technician Response Unit was a test of change during 2023/24 aimed at providing timely face to face
assessment of patients who might otherwise face extended wait times during periods of increased demand.
The expected benefit for patients was an early recognition of serious illness to get them the right care, in
the right place, at the right time. The Technician on the response unit was supported by remote senior
clinicians who aide with clinical decision making. With this support, patients could be referred to alternative
care pathways, conveyed to hospital using a suitable resource or discharged on scene.


The Technician Response Unit was also an opportunity to offer a much needed and desirable opportunity
for professional development to our Technician staff at a time when their career path is limited. Many of our Technicians have well developed assessment skills and are competent to operate as single responders to incidents. By directing these staff to appropriate incidents, we could realise an opportunity to more
effectively utilise Paramedic and Advanced Practitioner resources for other patients where these skills may
be of more benefit. The dispatch criteria for the Technician response unit was –

  • Yellow calls where an ambulance is not immediately dispatched or available.
  • Incidents where a remote clinician has determined that a face-to-face assessment will be required
    and a Technician or single crew would be of benefit for observation. The technician response unit
    will then provide feedback to the clinician.
  • Timed admission calls where an Ambulance Care Assistant crew is already on scene and require
    more clinical support.
  • Immediately Life Threatening calls where the resource is the closest to the incident.
  • Cardiac arrest calls as the third person and not in place of a Paramedic or 3RU.

Please see the attached documents with further details on the Technician Response Unit test of change.
The Scottish Ambulance Service has a duty of care to prevent personal information or identifiers being
released under the Data Protection Act, it is for this reason some of the information in these documents has been redacted under section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002.

Response Documents

FOI 24 533 Technician Response Unit V1.0 Redacted (1) (PDF | 235KB)

FOI 24 533 PDSA Technician Response Car Cycle 2 Redacted (1) (PDF | 100KB)

FOI 24 533 TRU Interim Summary Redacted (1) (PDF | 111KB)

FOI 24 533 Technician Response Unit Advert Redacted (1) (PDF | 103KB)

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